First Grade Science Standards
Content Standard:
Performance Expectations:
Enabling Knowledge:
K-1 PS2A Liquids take the shape of the
part of the container they occupy.
Predict the shape that water will take in
a variety of different containers.
Students will understand that a
liquid is something that flows
(pours out of a cup).
Students will understand that when
a liquid is poured (or flows) into
another container, it will assume
that containers shape.
(Enduring Understanding: Different
kinds of materials display different
properties.)
Students will understand that a
liquids ability to flow is a physical
property.
K-1 PS2B Solids retain their shape
regardless of the container they are in.
(Enduring Understanding: Different
kinds of materials display different
properties.)
Predict that frozen water (e.g., ice) will
retain its shape when moved among
containers of different shapes (e.g., ice
cubes in a tray).
Given several substances, sort them
into those that are liquid and those that
are solid.
Students will understand that solids
like to maintain a given shape.
Students will understand that they
can physically change the shape of a
solid by cutting, breaking, tearing,
etc, the object, but it is still a solid.
Students will understand that an
solids ability to maintain its shape is
a physical property.
Sample Tasks:
K-1 ES1A Many things can be seen in
the sky. Some change minute by minute,
while others move in patterns that can be
seen if they are observed day after day.
Observe and communicate the many
things that can be seen in the sky that
change minute by minute (e.g., birds,
airplanes, and clouds) and those that
change their shape or position in
observable patterns day after day (e.g.,
apparent shape of the moon).*
(Enduring Understanding: The Sun
and the Moon have patterns of
movement that can be observed and
recorded.)
K-1 ES1B The position of the Sun in the
sky appears to change during the day.
(Enduring Understanding: The Sun
and the Moon have patterns of
movement that can be observed and
recorded.)
Students will understand that
objects of all kinds are found in the
day and night sky.
Students will understand that some
objects move very fast (like
airplanes and birds) while others
can take much longer to move
(clouds).
Students will understand that the
earth is spinning on its axis, so some
things stand almost still as we rotate
by them, like the Sun, Moon, and
Stars.
Compare the position of the Sun in the
sky in the morning with its position in
the sky at midday and in the afternoon.
Students will understand that the
Sun sits in a stationary position in
our Solar system (visual would be
excellent here).
Students will understand that the
Earth spins on its axis (visual would
be good here).
Students will understand that the
Sun’s position change is due to
Earth’s rotation on its axis.
K-1 ES1C The Moon can be seen
sometimes during the day and sometimes
during the night. The Moon appears to
have different shapes on different days.
Observe the Moon during different
times of the day and month, and draw
its apparent shape.
Students will understand that Moon
rotates on its axis once every 29
days and also orbits the Earth once
every 29 days.
Students will understand that the
Moon, as it orbits the Earth, comes
between the Earth and the Sun.
(Enduring Understanding: The Sun
and the Moon have patterns of
movement that can be observed and
recorded.)
Students will understand that the
Earth, as it orbits around the Sun,
comes between the Moon and the
Sun.
Students will understand that these
two occurrences cause the different
shapes of the moon at different
times of the month.
K-1 LS2A There are different kinds of
natural areas, or habitats, where many
different plants and animals live
together.
(Enduring Understanding: Habitats
are places that meet the daily needs of
plants and animals.)
Investigate an area near their home or
school where many different plants and
animals live together (e.g., a lawn, a
vacant lot, a wooded park, a flower
bed) and describe the different plants
and animals found there.
Students will understand that a
habitat is an area where different
organisms live together.
Students will understand that
habitats can be natural or manmade.
Students will understand that all the
living organisms in a habitat live,
eat, move, multiply, and die within
that habitat area.
K-1 LS2B A habitat supports the growth
of many different plants and animals by
meeting their basic needs of food, water,
and shelter.
Identify the characteristics of a habitat
that enable the habitat to support the
growth of many different plants and
animals (e.g., have trees to provide
nesting places for birds and squirrels,
pond water for tadpoles and frogs,
blackberry bushes for rabbits to hide
in).
Students will understand that a
habitat consists of many different
living organisms (plants and
animals).
List two or more things that humans do
that might harm plants and animals in a
given habitat (e.g., throwing litter in a
pond might cause difficulty for water
birds and fish to find food or might
poison the plants and animals that live
there).
Communicate ways that humans
protect habitats and/or improve
conditions for the growth of the plants
and animals that live there (e.g., reuse
or recycle products to avoid littering).
Students will understand that
humans will always affect any given
habitat they come in contact with.
Students will understand that a
habitat provides all its living
organisms with food, water, and
shelter (a home).
(Enduring Understanding: Habitats
are places that meet the daily needs of
plants and animals.)
K-1 LS2C Humans can change natural
habitats in ways that can be helpful or
harmful for the plants and animals that
live there.
(Enduring Understanding: Habitats
are places that meet the daily needs of
plants and animals.)
Students will understand that
humans, through acts of littering,
can cause major harm to a habitat.
Students will understand that
humans can also improve a habitat
by helping to keep things clean and
litter free and by carefully studying
a habitat before attempting to fix or
change something.
K-1 LS3A Some things are alive and
others are not.
Use logical rules to sort objects into
two groups, those that are alive and
those that are not.
Students will understand that living
things require food, water and
shelter in order to survive.
Students will understand that nonliving things have no requirements.
(Enduring Understanding: Both
plants and animals have different
characteristics that can be used to
classify them.)
K-1 LS3B There are many different
types of living things on Earth. Many of
them are classified as plants or animals.
(Enduring Understanding: Both
plants and animals have different
characteristics that can be used to
classify them.)
Given a list, illustrations, or actual
plants or animals, classify them as
plants or animals.
Students will understand that living
organisms are classified into two
basic groups: plants and animals.
Students will understand that
animals need oxygen to breath, are
able to move from one place to
another, and require food from other
sources.
Students will understand that a plant
needs carbon dioxide to breath,
stays in one place all its life, and
gets its food and energy from the
Sun and soil.
K-1 LS3C External features of animals
and plants are used to classify them into
groups.
(Enduring Understanding: Both
plants and animals have different
characteristics that can be used to
classify them.)
Describe several external features and
behaviors of animals that can be used
to classify them (e.g., size, color, shape
of body parts).
Describe several external features of
plants that can be used to classify them
(e.g., size, color, kinds of seeds, shapes,
or texture of plant parts).
Give examples to illustrate how pairs of
plants and/or animals are similar to and
different from each other (e.g., cats and
dogs both have four legs, but many
dogs have longer snouts than cats).
Students will understand that plants
and animals have different external
features that distinguish them from
one another.
Students will understand that
animals have legs, arms, fur, noses,
mouths, ears, eyes, feathers, scales,
etc.
Students will understand that plants
have roots, stems, leaves, flowers,
bark, seeds, etc.